'Buried Among Kings': Hampton Court and the coffin of the Unknown Warrior

On 11 November 1920, the Unknown Warrior was laid to rest in Westminster Abbey. Buried anonymously in remembrance of the missing dead, the Warrior’s coffin is said to have been made of ‘English oak’ from Hampton Court Palace. But where did this curious palace connection come from, and can we get to the bottom of it?

Here, Assistant Curator Minette Butler investigates the exact circumstances of this story – as well as an unexpected link to the Tower of London.

Origin of the Unknown Warrior

The First World War saw the deaths of over 880,000 British forces, with more than half a million casualties still missing. This unprecedented loss shook the country to its core, as thousands of families struggled not only with their grief, but the knowledge that their loved one had never been found.

The idea of an ‘Unknown Warrior’ was put forward by Reverend David Railton in August 1920, inspired by his experiences as an army chaplain serving on the western front. The idea was approved the following October, and plans were made to return an unidentified member of the British forces from France to be buried with full State honours on Armistice Day (11 November) in the Abbey.

Was the coffin made from Hampton Court oak?

By tradition, the Unknown Warrior’s coffin is said to be made from an oak tree that grew at Hampton Court – in some versions of the story, Hampton Court oak was used on the orders of George V himself.

Representing strength and endurance, oak trees have strong associations with monarchy and national identity. This makes the Hampton Court connection very appealing. Combined with the sword, ‘treasure casket’ and even the title of ‘Warrior’, the connection to this royal palace enhances the funeral’s solemn, antiquated symbolism.

Strangely though, the circumstances of the story are unclear.

Oak trees have grown at Hampton Court Palace for hundreds of years. One of most significant trees here is the Medieval or ‘Methuselah’ Oak, thought to have been planted around 750 years ago. Sadly, this veteran tree is now dead, though its remains can still be seen in Home Park.

Some versions of this story allege that a tree was cut down specially for the coffin. However, this seems unlikely. Freshly felled oak usually needs time to season (preferably at least 1-2 years) and plans for the funeral took place over a few short weeks. The British Undertakers’ Association were only contacted on 27 October, just 13 days before they accompanied the coffin to France to receive the chosen body.

Tracing a tradition

The origins of the story

So where did this intriguing tale come from?

British newspapers from 1920 consistently describe the coffin as ‘English Oak’. One Australian paper, the Perth Daily News, does specify that the oak came from ‘one of the trees of Hampton Court’ – however, this fleeting reference was published two months after the funeral.

Memoirs written by representatives of the British Undertakers’ Association and the Office of Works reference the wood simply as ‘English oak’, as do descriptions of the coffin within the Works accounts. These papers, which chronicle the funeral arrangements in incredible detail, hold no references to wood collected from the palace, nor correspondence from the royal household requesting oak from Hampton Court.

There is one reference to the palace in the Works accounts. A memo dated 23 October from principal secretary Sir Lionel Earle noted that the oak coffin would be ‘unpolished but waxed down more or less to the colour of Wren panelling at Hampton Court’.

Earle’s description probably refers to the Baroque parts of the palace, created by Sir Christopher Wren. Interestingly, the comparison was in fact echoed in the contemporary British press. Did Earle’s description influence the undertakers, or perhaps his illustrative analogy led to a grander story taking shape?

‘The coffin is of solid English oak waxed to a dull finish, the colour of the Wren panelling at Hampton Court’ – Edinburgh Evening News, 10 November 1920.

A Curator's sword

The Unknown Warrior and the Tower of London

Whilst I was searching the archives, another connection to our palaces came to light. During the funeral arrangements, the Office of Works contacted Major Charles ffoulkes, Curator of the Royal Armouries at the Tower of London, and the Imperial War Museum, to seek his advice on the ‘crusader sword’ for the coffin’s lid.

Major ffoulkes was initially troubled about placing a historic-style sword in a 20th-century burial. He argued that the coffin should include a weapon that was used during the war. However, in the end he offered two of his own cross-hilted swords, one of which he hoped might have some sentimental value as the hilt was ‘made by the Curator of the Tower Armouries’.

This brass-hilted sword was accepted by the committee and remains atop the Unknown Warrior’s coffin to this day. It was identified as a gift from George V, probably because ffoulkes did not want his involvement announced to the press. However, he dutifully passed on copies of his correspondence to the Deanery at Westminster, so records would have ‘the true fact’ for future enquiries.